Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2/University Challenge
The University Challenge was a competition in Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2 which featured six robots, each representing a university or college from which each team came. The episode was originally shown on BBC Choice on January 30, 2003, but the series was dropped by the BBC before it could be shown on BBC Two. It was repeated on Dave on 8th January 2011. Competing Robots Round 1 Infernal Contraption vs Behemoth vs C.V. Behemoth, the favourite for this battle due to its experience and the confidence from its team, began the fight by attacking Infernal Contraption, but failed to flip it. Turning instead on C.V., Behemoth turned it over with one lift of the bucket, before righting it again. Behemoth then pushed C.V. into the CPZ where C.V. tried to attack Behemoth with its axe, and Sir Killalot came in, but was too slow to stop both robots escaping. After this, Behemoth suddenly ground to a halt. Infernal Contraption attacked Behemoth with its disc, and C.V. attacked with its axe, although C.V. itself was damaged and had limited manoeuvrability. Sir Killalot then came in and picked Behemoth up using his lance, parading it around the arena before putting it down again. Whilst Infernal Contraption attacked the sluggish C.V., throwing it into the air, Behemoth was put onto the floor flipper and thrown over. Sir Killalot picked it up once more and grilled it on the flame pit. Much to everyone's surprise, Behemoth was out. Team Make Robotics revealed to Philippa Forrester in the pits that the true cause of Behemoth's defeat was a faulty wire in its safety link. Forrester drew reference to the team's confidence prior to the match beginning. Qualified: C.V. & Infernal Contraption Tiberius 3 vs Fluffy vs Infinity Fluffy, unseen to most, spun up its weapon before activate was sounded. When the battle did get underway, Tiberius attacked Infinity, before reversing into the blade of Fluffy, but this did not damage Tiberius greatly. Tiberius then tried to attack Fluffy with its jaw, but it only scraped off the side. Tiberius spun into Infinity, knocking off a panel of some description, but it did not seem important, as Infinity was not noticeably affected by it. Meanwhile, Fluffy was once again attacked by Tiberius, but this time Tiberius managed to puncture Fluffy, whilst Tiberius rammed the pair. Tiberius dragged Fluffy towards the flame pit. Tiberius then lifted Fluffy into the air on its beak, however Tiberius had held Fluffy longer than the rules permitted, so the House Robots tried to free the two, but failed to do so. Growler hit the pit release, and Tiberius edged Fluffy towards the pit, and Infinity inadvertently edged a wheel over the pit, stranding it. Sir Killalot nudged Infinity, but miraculously it managed to stay out. Growler shoved Tiberius from behind which knocked Fluffy into the pit, although Tiberius followed it. Fluffy was eliminated, and arguably the two favourites for the title had fallen in the first round. Qualified: Infinity & Tiberius 3 Round 2 Infernal Contraption vs Infinity The first semi-final began with both robots dodging one another, and taking a long time to finally collide. When they did, Infinity rammed Infernal Contraption against the side wall, which buckled its pincers. Infinity then pushed Infernal Contraption into Sgt. Bash, although Infernal Contraption immobilised the House Robot by pulling its removable link out. Infinity then continued pushing Infernal Contraption all over the arena, although Infinity did not get everything its own way, a disc blow from Infernal Contraption further buckled the pincers weapon. Infinity then shoved Infernal Contraption into the side wall, but were picked up by Killalot, and almost dumped out of the arena. Sir Killalot let Infinity go, but soon picked it up again, before once more releasing it. More pushing and dodging ensued, as the disc of Infernal Contraption ground to a halt. Infernal Contraption was the boxed into the CPZ by Sir Killalot, and struggled to escape, After this, Infernal Contraption was pushed up against the arena side wall, and Infinity shoved it around, but time had expired. A very close match was sent to the Judges, but they edged in favour of Infinity. Winner: Infinity C.V. vs Tiberius 3 thumb|Tiberius 3 crushes C.V. Tiberius 3 started the battle by attempting to crush C.V., but failed to apply pressure. C.V. was being edged back, but fired its axe repeatedly, and managed to strike through a gap in Tiberius' armour, hooking it. Tiberius escaped and crushed C.V., failing to pierce the armour, but applying significant pressure. C.V. continued to fire its axe, but Tiberius 3 backed it into the pit release button, and attempted to crush a wheel. Tiberius 3 then manoeuvred C.V. into position and pushed it into the pit. With this, Tiberius qualified for the final. Winner: Tiberius 3 Final Infinity vs Tiberius 3 Infinity began this battle still bearing the damaged pincers from its previous battle. The fight started with Tiberius pushing Infinity into Sergeant Bash, but Infinity escaped. Tiberius then tried to puncture Infinity's shell, but failed to. Infinity responded by shoving Tiberius into the angle grinder. Tiberius again tried to grab Infinity with its claw, but the faster Infinity spun away. Tiberius eventually caught Infinity in the CPZ, and rammed it into the Arena wall, but failed to capitalize again. After spinning away, Tiberius caught Infinity again, this time puncturing the exposed wheels. When Infinity escaped, it pushed from the sides of Tiberius, but was caught and pinned by the jaw again. Tiberius then shoved Infinity into the CPZ, and Shunt came across and axed the top of Infinity, and then the rear of Tiberius. Meanwhile, one of the house robots, presumably Sergeant Bash, pressed the pit release, but this didn't matter as time ran out soon afterwards. The judges ruled in favour of Tiberius 3. University Challenge Champion: Tiberius 3 Trivia *This was the first of three episodes shown on BBC Choice that was never shown on BBC Two. *The two most acclaimed participants, Behemoth and Fluffy, were eliminated in the first round, leaving a second round line up that consisted of three robots that fell in the first round of Series 6, and one that didn't qualify. *The match between Infernal Contraption and Infinity was a grudge match from Heat E of the Sixth Wars, in which the two robots met in the first round melee, but neither machine qualified for the next round. *Two of the universities represented during this competition have employed Robot Wars judges outside of Robot Wars; the University of Wales employed Myra Wilson, and the Open University employed Martin Smith. *Unlike the other Extreme 2 episodes, no trophy was given out to the winners. Category:Robot Wars Extreme 2 Category:Episodes in which two robots fought twice